A Rough Holiday Weekend For Derby Class of '09.

It was not a good holiday weekend for horses from the Derby class of ’09. Derby winner Mine That Bird finished eighth in the grade 2 Firecracker Handicap at Churchill Downs Sunday; Regal Ransom (8th in the ’09 Derby), finished fourth in the Suburban Handicap (gr. 2) while Hold Me Back (12th in the Derby), lost his jockey to a bad breathalyzer test before the Dominion Day Stakes at Woodbine even started Friday. And even though I Want Revenge (photo right) didn’t start in the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands last year, he was the prohibitive favorite before being scratched the morning of the race. I Want Revenge didn’t fair much better Saturday, just defeating Regal Ransom for third in the Suburban.

Hold Me Back apparently made the pre-race curfew that Kent Desormeaux missed, because he eventually won the $216,400 Dominian Day with replacement jockey Tyler Pizarro. And forgive me for not being too harsh on the other three.

I Want Revenge was making his return to the races in the 9 furlong Suburban after fifteen months off with his last race being his remarkable Wood Memorial (gr. 1) in April of last year. Around the far turn, eventual winner Haynesfield moved passed Regal Ransom, who had set the Surbuban fractions and began to pull away down the Belmont Park stretch as Regal Ransom and I Want Revenge began to tire. Regal Ransom was also making his first start of the year, having not raced since finishing eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November.

In a bit of Suburban irony, Haynesfield was a Kentucky Derby prospect in March of last year before he finished eighth in the Gotham (gr. 2) behind I Want Revenge.

Like, Regal Ransom, Mine That Bird (photo left) was making his first start since a poor Breeders’ Cup Classic as he finished ninth that day at Santa Anita. And the 2008 Canadian Champion had a few additional obstacles to overcome as well. Making his first start under the direction of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, Mine That Bird had been pointed to an allowance race earlier in the week on dirt, but the race didn’t fill. The Firecracker was also Mine That Bird’s first start on turf, and judging by the performance, may be his last.

Lukas has said that they are now pointing Mine That Bird toward the grade 1 Whitney Handicap on the dirt at Saratoga August 7. There he is expected to meet the leading older male horse in the country at this time, Quality Road, with the grade 1 Metropolitan Mile and grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park this winter among his 2010 credits.

On a side note, Quality Road worked Sunday at Belmont Park going a half mile in an easy :48.84 for trainer Todd Pletcher. “It was just an easy maintenance breeze for him,” said Jonathan Thomas, Pletcher’s assistant. “He went well.” Quality Road was among the favorites for the 2009 Kentucky Derby as well before an foot injury forced his withdrawl just days before the run for the roses.

No news as to the next start for I Want Revenge from trainer Dick Dutrow’s barn nor on plans for Regal Ransom, from Saeed bin Suroor on plans for Regal Ransom. Toby Sheets, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, said plans for Haynesworth will not be determined in the near future either.

Toby Sheets, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen said “[Haynesworth] came out of the race well. We’ll wait until he comes back and breezes, and then begin talking about it.”

Bird Brothers Battle For Championship

Oh the competition among siblings. Following Summer Bird's "slapping in the slop" Shadwell Travers victory Saturday at Saratoga, one must wonder how voters are now leaning in the race for Champion 3-Year-Old Male. Never one to predict or at times even understand, the voters mindset in any election, I'm going out on a limb here and say they're set on that son of Birdstone. Ironically, it's two brothers - both invited to the Kentucky Derby on the same day only after other, more qualified 3-year-olds according to Derby conditions, dropped out due to last minute injuries.

On one hand we have the Kentucky Derby winner, ever popular, often troubled and maligned Mine That Bird (photo right). A star in Canada as a 2-year-old, and an also ran in El Paso early this year, Mine That Bird won the Run For The Roses at 50-1 with a late acceleration not seen in any classic in many years. Both Calvin Borel and Mike Smith have left him twice now in a bizarre year when they also ride historically good females Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra.

With four trips on Mine That Bird between them, Borel has an "A+" effort in the Derby but a kind "D" for moving Mine That Bird too early in the Belmont. Smith gets a trafffic riddled "B" for his ride on Mine That Bird in Preakness but a "C-" with a tough pace question in the easy West Virginia Derby class. Throw in a minor throat surgery, stolen papers, a trainer who can't walk but likes to drive instead of fly, the Derby announcer forgetting Mine That Bird's name in midstretch and I have to tell ya Steve Asmussen: Mine That Bird makes Kensei look like a first time starter with the Rodney Dangerfield thing.

On the other hand is Summer Bird (photo left). Bred in Kentucky and raised in Florida by his Arkansas owners orginally from India, Summer Bird was just another unraced 3-year-old in March, a maiden only winner in the grade 2 Arkansas Derby, a good six-place finisher as a longshot in the Derby, an 11-1 winner of the Belmont and no match for Rachel Alexandra in the Haskell. Trainer Tim Ice has all the name recognition of the Starlight Vocal Band but is at least no longer a one hit wonder with Summer Bird's Travers win.

Liike brother Mine That, Summer can run. He just has a different way of going about things. While Mine That Bird likes to lay back early and launch as if leaving Cape Kennedy, Summer Bird slowly orbits the track before hitting his thrusters as if using only his slower but steadier momentum for the success of the mission. Just as he did in the Travers.

Although he was much closer to the lead than jockey Kent Desormeaux had wanted, Summer Bird galloped along stalking longshot Our Edge and Kensei. Around the turn, with Desormeaux's hands remaining patiently motionless, Summer Bird seemed to widen his stride alone and had worn down the two leaders by the time Desormeaux allowed him to run at the top of the stretch.

Summer Bird became the 30th horse to win both the Belmont and the Travers, joining Birdstone who won both races in 2004. Many of those previous 29 became Champion 3-Year-Old Male including Point Given ('01), Temperence Hill ('80), Arts and Letters ('69) and Damascus in 1967. Now Summer Bird will try to join that group.

Much of that depends on his next two starts which appears to be the Jockey Club Gold Cup against older horses on October 3 at Belmont Park before the Breeders' Cup Classic in November in California.

Rachel Alexandra Toys With Boys In Haskell

Just before the Haskell I liked Summer Bird. I thought Munnings, with his top level speed would get to the lead or race alongside Rachel Alexandra early in the race and perhaps force the other to go a little faster than desired. I thought Papa Clem might make a bid at her at the top of the stretch and Summer Bird or longshot Atomic Rain would run down a weary Rachel Alexandra.

Midway through the $1.25 million Haskell I was feeling pretty good. Munnings raced to the lead, forced Rachel Alexandra and Calvin Borel wide around the first turn and completed the first quarter of a mile in a rapid 22.99 seconds.

As they continued down the backstretch the pace remained swift and although Kent Desormeaux had Summer Bird a little closer than I would have I liked, I still felt confident.

As the three leaders raced into the far turn, I lost all confidence. I saw the hands of Desormeaux on Summer Bird and John Velasquez on Munnings begin to move back and forth. Meanwhile Borel's hands had not moved and Rachel Alexandra had. The boys were being asked to run and falling behind while Rachel was in a gallop and accelerating. In an instant she was pulling away with ease as Summer Bird, Desormeaux, Munnings and Velazquez worked in futulity trying to keep up.

As Rachel Alexandra turned for home alone, Borel twirled his stick in her view and began pumping his hands against her neck. He briefly looked back and asked her to put them away.

Which she did as if only toying with Borel and the rest of the boys on her way to joining Serena's Song as the only two fillies to ever win the prestigious Haskell.

Her final running time for the 1-1/8 mile was 1:47.21, only 1/5 of a second off of the track record set by Majestic Light in 1976 and equalled by Bet Twice in the epic 1987 Haskell over Lost Code and Alysheba.

And Rachel was again in a mere gallop by the time she approached the wire. Just as relaxed as she was in winning the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park in April, The Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in May, to a certain degree the Preakness two weeks later. Her victory in the Mother Goose at Belmont Park in July was more like a stroll.

We still may not know how good she is.

A Closer Look At Summer Bird

It's not often a Belmont Stakes winner gets overlooked. (2008 winner Sarava excluded) With it's Triple Crown prestige and the 1-1/2 mile distance, the Belmont Stakes (gr. 1) is often truly the test of champions as evidenced by it's many 3-year-old year-end award winners. Winners such as Point Given, A.P. Indy and Risen Star have been named champions without a Derby victory. However, with the arrival of Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra on the scene for the $1.25 million Haskell Invitational Sunday, Belmont winner Summer Bird is having to take a bit of a back seat.

But's that's not uncharted territory for Summer Bird and his trainer Tim Ice. Summer Bird was overlooked at 11-1 odds before winning the Belmont; went off at 43-1 odds before finishing fifth in the Kentucky Derby (gr. 1) and was let go at 26-1 before his solid third-place finish behind fellow Haskell contender Papa Clem in the Arkansas Derby (gr. 2). Not that there was something the betting public missed at Belmont, Churchill or Oaklawn Park. Prior to those races, Summer Bird had only a maiden victory in two starts to his credit.

The highlight section in each media guide under Tim Ice is a bit sparse as well below the Belmont mention. The 35-year-old Ohio native has only managed his own training operation since 2008 after serving as an assistant for 15 years under trainers Morris Nicks, Cole Norman and Keith Desormeaux.

Summer Bird also has no lucrative auction history as he is a homebred (meaning the current owners also bred and raised the colt) for Drs. Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman, both retired physicians. They first had a farm in Arkansas but now are based in Ocala, Fla., though the colt was foaled in Kentucky. The natives of India own Tiffany Farms and about 20 broodmares. The Jayaramans have been breeding horses for more than 20 years while racing primarily in Texas, Arkansas and Louisisana.

But there are some things to like about Summer Bird. His Belmont Stakes victory was impressive as he wore down front runner Dunkirk on a speed favoring track, (although Dunkirk went through very rapid early fractions for a 1-1/2 miles) and Mine That Bird who had the advantage of racing further back early like Summer Bird. In the Kentucky Derby, Summer Bird made a good run late while wide and closed ground to finish sixth, beaten 13 lengths by Mine That Bird but only some six lengths behind second-place finisher Pioneerof The Nile.

Summer Bird will also get the return riding services of jockey Kent Desormeaux, who has been on a winning tear since taking the Belmont this year. He won the grade 1 American Oaks at Hollywood Park with Gozzip Girl, the Dixie Stakes at Belmont with Parading and the grade 2 Firecracker S. at Churchill with Mr. Sidney - not to mention his Hall of Fame credentials.

In order for Summer Bird to have a chance to catch Rachel Alexandra, he will benefit if somebody is able to challenge the speedy filly early in the race. If she is allowed to gallop along comfortably on the lead in the early stages of the race, it will be difficult for the late running Summer Bird to muster a rally. But he has been training up to the race well with two solid works at Monmouth Park since arriving from his home at Louisiana Downs July 3 and Ice has been quoted as saying he is training perfect. The added time at Monmouth should also be a benefit over Haskell contenders such as Rachel Alexandra who ship this week to Monmouth Park.

One more thing about Summer Bird that may help. According to Ice, he love's the mud and handled a sloppy Monmouth Park track well during his July 26 work. The surface was muddy and sealed after overnight rains swept through the area before the half-mile work in :49 with a first quarter in :26.

“He had a good strong work and he galloped out strong,” said Tim Ice. "Everything was great. I couldn’t be happier.”

Hollywood Gold Cup Features Battle Of The Sexes

Kent Desormeaux had more to celebrate than the Fourth of July last weekend after winning the grade 1 American Oaks on Gozzip Girl at Hollywood Park Sunday and the grade 3, $250,000 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on Coal Play Saturday.

The New York based jockey will try to keep his hot streak alive Saturday when he is expected to be aboard 119-pound highweight Parading in the grade 1, $700,000 Hollywood Gold Cup.

Not only will he be trying to keep his own streak alive, but will try to guide Parading to his third consecutive graded stakes victory after taking the grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland in April and the grade 2 Dixie Stakes (photo) at Pimlico on Preakness Day in mid-May. Parading is trained by Shug McGaughey at his base in New York and said part of the reason for shipping to California was the consistently rainy weather in New York this Spring. The 6-year-old son of Pulpit is having a year consistent with a late bloomer as he never started as a 2-year-old, only started twice the next year and had an 11-month vacation before returning to the races at Keeneland in April just before the Ben Ali. He has won 7 of 17 races and has earned $405,046 in his career.

While Rachel Alexandra continues to scare away her female rivals on the East Coast, Zenyatta has forced her stablemate Life Is Sweet to switch divisions in California and challenge the boys in the Gold Cup.

Life is Sweet dominated the filly and mare division in Southern California before Zenyatta returned to defeat her in the grade 2 Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park in May. Before that she won consecutive races in the grade 2 El Encino Stakes, the grade 2 La Canada Stakes in Feb. and the grade 1 Santa Margarita Stakes during the first three months of 2009 at Santa Anita. Farret Gomes will ride Life is Sweet.

Thoughts, Comments And Questions About The Belmont Stakes

The curse of the big sandy struck again when 11-1 longshot Summer Bird ran past the three favorites in deep stretch to win the 141st running of the Belmont Stakes. Summer Bird's victory lifted on heck of a big monkey off the back of winning jockey Kent Desormeaux, who missed two chances at the Triple Crown by not winning the 1998 Belmont on Real Quiet and again last year on Big Brown.

Dunkirk survived a steward's inquiry after the race and a stretch run against favorite Mine That Bird to get second while the later finished third. Charitable Man was fourth.

But the race emphasized just how difficult it is this marathon of a race. We will never know if Mine That Bird took Calvin Borel closer to the leaders too early as the jockey explained after the race, or if Borel misjudged his timing, so many great jockeys before him I might add, and compromised his chances at a personal Triple Crown.

Mine That Bird did look a bit tightly wound when shown by ABC making the walk from the stable area to the saddling paddock, but really no more energetic than he did waltzing onto the stage at Pimlico three weeks ago. But for some reason, despite announcer Tom Durkins description, Mine That Bird simply didn't fire when and like he did at Churchill Downs in the Derby or again in the Preakness.

It was a dissappointing loss for many who were pulling for Mine That Bird, including the throngs of New York racing fans that were wearing cowboy hats in his honor. In fact, it is believed that there hasn't been that many cowboys at a New York city event since the Dennis Weaver/McCloud fan club disbanded in the early 1980s.

Something tells me that Mine That Bird will return as a dangerous foe when he returns to the customary one-mile ovals of most North American tracks.

More Thoughts, Comments and Questions.
The best line of the day came from ESPN's Kenny Mayne (of course) when he said being a maiden is worse than being a virgin because a maiden hasn't even won a horse race... The worst line(s) of the day of course, came from Hank Goldberg of the same broadcast team. He took two stabs at trying to tell the story about his conversation with jockey Jeremy Rose (once on the ESPN pre-Belmont telecast, and then again on the ABC telecast.) Take three. My favortite and most uncomfortable Goldberg moment was when Goldberg was describing the other Derby and Preakness horses that had not made it to the Belmont saying the series knocked-off others... knocked-out the others... I'm glad he stopped there... Wasn't the story about racing vernacular in our every day lives a good one?... Wasn't the feature with Kenny Mayne and Chip Woolley in the pick-up truck a bad one. Even with Woolley doing an admirable job it was bad... My wife came up with a interesting thought on the popularity of the horses in this Triple Crown season. Seabiscuit ran during the depression. Secretariat during another challenging time during our country's history. Things could be better now... Whatever producer decided to use The Rail Blog's Joe Drape and Steve Haskin of bloodhorse.com in the Longshot feature on ESPN and ABC made a good choice. Both veteran turf writers make my recommended reading list on a regular basis... As a longtime fan of thoroughbred racing in this the Ark-La-Tex, I send congratulations to Summer Bird owners and breeders Drs. Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman who have raced horses in this region for more than 30 years... Gabby's Golden Gal won the grade 1 Acorn Stakes for 3-year-old fillies earlier in the day to take her spot as one of the top fillies in the country that is not as fast as Rachel Alexandra...